Chapter 32: Become bigger and stronger, and create brilliance
Xia Kingdom, Jiangcheng Mansion, and the Southwest Recruitment Division Yamen.
Generals from all the important towns on the southwest defense line gathered here.
The eunuchs who came from Jinling City to deliver the edict, surrounded by imperial guards and embroidered cloth envoys, held the imperial edict in their hands and walked in with their heads held high.
"The Emperor of Daxia's decree has arrived, and all the generals will welcome you!"
Only the sound of armor plates clashing was heard. All the generals knelt down on the ground, with solemn expressions, and shouted in unison:
"The last general is waiting, respectfully listen to the sacred command!"
"I bear the fate of Haotian's followers, and the edict says:
I have received the order of heaven and admired the instructions of Emperor Daxing. The Yun Kingdom has a glimpse of the country and stationed troops on the southwest border. I should use generals to care for the border and spread the news in all directions to convey the importance of the safety of the country.
Qimo, the Marquis of Deyang, learned the secrets of the Three Formations and had the wisdom and strategy of a commander. Now the general of the Fu Army of the Jin Dynasty, he is leading the Southwest Recruitment Department and is appointed deputy envoy. He is ordered to give the king a flag and take charge of the military affairs in the southwest.
General Weiyuan was granted the title of Tinghou of Fangshoudu in the Jin Dynasty, and led his troops to move to Wuling County.
General Fubian...
…
…
The lieutenant of Anshun County and Hao Yuanhua, the Marquis of Leyi Duting, led his troops to assist in the defense of Xingyuan Prefecture.
He surrendered to Li General Chen Liyan and was awarded the title of Colonel Hujie, leading troops to assist in the defense of Wuling County.
Liao Gu, the former commander-in-chief of the southwest frontier army and the general who conquered the south, lost his troops and generals in the battle of Rongzhou, resulting in the total annihilation of the frontier army. He should have been dealt with according to military law. However, considering that this is not a crime of war, he has been removed from his official position and demoted to a captain to guard the front line.
Allow him to serve his crime and make meritorious service.
Kudos to this!"
The situation in the southwest was really critical, so after Yu Zhaoling ascended the throne, the first imperial edict was sent to the southwest to take over the military power and stabilize the defense line.
At this time, the generals mentioned in the imperial edict to take over the armies on the southwest defense line were either Yu Zhaoling's old troops, or generals who had previously expressed their intention to surrender.
A group of generals who took over the Southwest Army had received the news a long time ago and were well prepared. When they received the official edict, they immediately concealed their joy, leaned over and shouted in unison:
"The general will be waiting for the order!"
Liao Gu, who was hiding among the generals, heard the order that he was relieved of his previous military position and sent to the front line to serve as a captain. He was neither depressed nor overjoyed because he was exempted from punishment.
Although the issuance of this imperial edict means that Liao Gu's previous guilt for losing the Southwest Frontier Army has been completely removed. But Liao Gu has not forgotten the real reason why he was able to escape questioning!
At first, under the arrangement of Nianganchu of the Yun Kingdom, he "pacified" Murong Fu's rebellion and guarded Yongzhou City, an important town in the southwest. Then, under the arrangement of Nianganchu, he abandoned his old master, King Jin, and went to
Yu Zhaoling expressed his loyalty.
In order to appease the defeated generals and express his intention to recruit the former subordinates of King Jin, Yu Zhaoling accepted Liao Gu's allegiance.
Finally, after Yu Zhaoling ascended the throne, Liao Gu was able to avoid having his house confiscated and questioned.
And all of this was accomplished under Yun Guo's plan! This means that after he, Liao Gu, boarded Yun Guo's pirate ship, he never had the chance to get off!
Liao Gu looked complicated and couldn't help but sigh quietly.
Now the personal guards around him have all been replaced by people from the Yun State. And the evidence of colluding with the Yun State on his body is also conclusive, and there is no room for maneuver. Even if he does not want to betray his family and country, he has reached this point.
At this point, he obviously has no choice...——
And just when the eunuchs in the palace were delivering their orders during the summons to the Si Yamen, there was an extremely hidden and unnoticed courtyard in Jiangcheng Mansion.
In the courtyard, the people were very mixed.
There are embroidery envoys who wear embroidered clothes and have a capable temperament, there are also people in the martial arts who dress up in different ways and are full of martial arts, and there are even traffickers and pawns.
In fact, as the secret service of the Xia Kingdom, it is natural that the Embroidered Clothes Envoy has a complicated personnel composition!
But although these people in front of them gathered in the small courtyard at the same time, they had no contact with each other. They were all doing their own errands, giving people a feeling of deep separation.
Anyone who comes to this small courtyard can see the violation at a glance.
In the room, Gong Yingzong was sitting on the main seat.
Several groups of people continuously gathered all kinds of information from all the countries in the world to him, and he personally collected and processed it.
Obviously, the reason why the embroiderers, martial arts people and traders and lackeys in this small courtyard were able to gather here against the norm is because of the handiwork of this abandoned disciple of the strategist!
Looking at the bits of information that had just been sent back in his hand, Gong Yingzong frowned and said in a deep voice:
"The Tibetan mission is on its way again?"
"Back to the leader, the disciples in the alliance saw it with their own eyes and arranged for people to check it. It cannot be faked." A man in the hall who looked like a martial artist said respectfully.
On the side, a capable embroidery envoy wearing embroidered clothes also made a report:
"Sir, over in Xiangzhou County, the spies placed in the Yun Kingdom's government have also sent back the news. Nie Chi, the leader of the Yangtong tribe, has not been convicted and executed. Emperor Yun personally issued the decree, thinking that he felt regretful,
It was another instigation, and he was still allowed to set off to Zhongqing City as a Tibetan envoy to have an audience!"
Hearing this, Gong Yingzong's eyes moved, and he couldn't help but show admiration, nodded and said:
"The current Emperor Yun is really powerful. He noticed at a glance that Tubo Zanpu was abandoning Nie Qi. Instead, he wanted to take advantage of Tubo Sheep's subordinates to control Tubo!"
Although he was thousands of miles away, Gong Yingzong could guess Xiao Cheng's thoughts just by relying on the fragmentary information in his hands and Zhongqing City's response methods.
Having said this, Gong Yingzong chuckled again and said:
"Haha, although it did not meet my previous expectations, which is a pity. But this move has planted a nail between Yun Kingdom and Tubo. Finally, there is no wasted effort!"
The contemporary Yun Emperor Xiao Cheng and the Tubo Lord Qi Nie Qi are both wise and powerful men and are not easy to fool. Therefore, Gong Yingzong had no intention of directly provoking a fight between the two countries with such small tricks.
You didn’t spend too much manpower and material resources. It was enough to bury a nail and prepare for the future!
Gong Yingzong slowly stood up and looked at the territory map of the world hanging behind him. Then he took out a long steel nail from somewhere and waved it casually.
But when he took action, his palm was soft and weak, but the steel nails flew out immediately, as fast as lightning. Before others could see clearly, they had already penetrated into the hanging map of all the countries in the world.
Taking a closer look, it happened to be the Tubo Kingdom on the map.
"So, where should we go next?" Gong Yingzong continued to look at the map and pondered.
Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows and murmured to himself:
"Tubo in the northwest is weak, Li Dynasty in the southeast has surrendered, Tianzhu in the west is divided, and there are many countries. Only Daxia in the northeast is worthy of being the opponent of the Yun Kingdom..."
Gong Yingzong couldn't help but reveal a look of sudden realization on his face, and said:
"No wonder my cheap senior brother who is good at 'tyrannical' will go to join the Yun Kingdom!"
In the Zongheng family, there are two schools of thought: "horizontal" and "vertical". The vertical one unites the weak to attack one strong one; the horizontal one works one strong one to attack the weak ones.
He was still wondering before. Although the Yun Kingdom is now powerful, its national strength is not as deep and powerful as the Xia Kingdom. Why would his senior brother go to the Yun Kingdom to serve?
But now, he re-analyzed the world situation and finally came to his senses.
In this mysterious situation, the world changed drastically. The Yun Kingdom took the lead and swallowed up the four southwest counties. The power doubled and weakened the Xia Kingdom's foundation, which seemed to change the offensive and defensive momentum between the two countries.
Therefore, the Yun State at this time is the "strongest" among all the countries in the world!
Thinking of this, Gong Yingzong not only did not feel regretful, but showed an excited look on his face, and said with a smile:
"Hahaha, it just allows me to show off what I have learned and compete with each other. As long as I defeat Zhang Yue, I can regain the orthodox position of the Strategist Family in an honest and fair manner!"
At this time, Gong Yingzong's eyes turned and gradually fell on Anguo in the southeast of Yunguo. His eyes flashed and he said:
"The Li Dynasty has occupied the southern part of Tiannan for hundreds of years, and its foundation is solid. I don't know how many people between the government and the public have the ancestral temple of the Li Dynasty in mind, but I can give it a try..."——
Yun Kingdom, in Zhongqing City.
There was a lot of excitement in front of a mansion. A group of dignitaries parked in front of the door, carrying invitations and gifts.
"Congratulations, may you be as blessed as the East China Sea and live as long as the Southern Mountains!"
"Master Gao, are you welcome to come to ask for a drink of birthday wine?"
"It's your fortieth birthday, it's time to celebrate it!"
These people who came to congratulate are not ordinary people!
Many officials from the Six Ministries, Yushitai, Dali Temple, and the cabinet, as well as some nobles and nobles from the court, all came to congratulate him in person, and the etiquette was extremely considerate.
At that time, Gao Fang, a doctor in the Ceremony Department of the Ministry of Etiquette, dressed in regular clothes, personally greeted all his colleagues in the court in front of the door. He returned the courtesy with a smile on his face and said:
"You're welcome, you're welcome! I'm in a hurry. If I'm rude today, please forgive me!"
Don't look at Gao Fang, he is just a doctor of the fifth rank in the imperial court, but he cannot be underestimated!
In the new system of Yun State, the Department of Ceremony in the Ministry of Rites was an important department responsible for holding imperial examinations and verifying official schools in various places.
Although it seems to be just a noble position, under the background of His Majesty's vigorous promotion of imperial examinations and official education, the Ceremony Department is extremely important!
This is also the reason why so many dignitaries came to congratulate Gao Fang on his birthday today.
On Gao Fang's side, he had just arranged for his family members to welcome his colleagues to their seats, when his family members quietly ran to him and whispered in his ear:
"Master, all the adults are here!"
Hearing this, Gao Fang nodded immediately, stood in front of the door for a while, and then slowly walked towards the study.
At this time, in Gao Fang's study, six people with noble clothes and extraordinary bearing were sitting quietly in their seats, waiting for Gao Fang to arrive.
Gao Fang quickly walked into the study, with a smile on his face, and he repeatedly cupped his hands and said:
"Oh, I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting for so long!"
In terms of official status, the six people here are all much higher than Gao Fang. But at this time, they were not angry when faced with Gao Fang's late arrival. They all smiled and said:
"Today's Gaoda life banquet, I have to entertain guests, so it doesn't matter!"
"I just arrived not long ago, and I happened to drink a cup of fine tea collected by Mr. Gao!"
"That's right, Master Gao doesn't have to be so polite!"
…
Hearing the six people waving their hands without any intention of blaming them, Gao Fang nodded with a smile and motioned for the servants behind him to step back.
When there were only a few people left in the study, Gao Fang once again handed over his hand and apologized, saying:
"Excuse me, my lords. The spies at Sticky Rod in the East Factory are all-pervasive. I am afraid there is more than one spy in my house. Gao really does not dare to be careless. So I only dare to invite you to this birthday banquet today."
Your Excellencies, come here to discuss!"
As soon as these words came out, the six people in the study became slightly silent and looked at Gao Fang without replying.
When Gao Fang saw this, he quickly said:
"My lords, please don't worry. Gao has arranged for a personal servant to guard outside the study. You don't need to worry about the walls having ears!"
When everyone heard this, they looked at each other.
One of them, a tall and thin old man, couldn't help but coughed lightly and spoke first:
"Master Gao promised us before that he was already making arrangements. I wonder if you are asking me to come to your house now, but everything is already ready?"
Hearing this, Gao Fang stood up straight, with a smile on his face, and nodded:
"Not bad! Finally, it has lived up to the expectations of all the adults. Everything has been taken care of!"
Having said this, Gao Fang walked to the bookshelf nearby, took down a book, opened it, took out six name certificates, and distributed them to several people respectively.
"This is the student name certificate of the government-run college run by Mr. Gao."
The six of them looked at the certificates in their hands and frowned:
"Certificate of a government-run college?"
Gao Fang smiled and said:
"Yes, the title! Under the system established by His Majesty, official schools in various places can recommend scholars and exempt them from the preliminary examination of the imperial examination."
Among the six people, there was another middle-aged man named Kong Wu, who frowned and said:
"I have inquired that the preliminary examination of the imperial examination is only for screening scholars. As long as the scholars are familiar with their own scriptures, there are very few who cannot pass! If you bring this out, I'm afraid you won't be able to satisfy everyone!"
Hearing this, Gao Fang waved his hands repeatedly and said:
"It's easy to exploit this loophole. I have one hundred and twenty-seven places in my hand right now. For five hundred taels of silver, some merchants who want to become an official will spend money to buy it!"
If others heard these words, they would be shocked! People like Gao Fang were so bold that they even thought of making money through cheating in the imperial examination!
"What's next?" someone asked again.
"The second examination of the imperial examination was organized by the Ministry of Etiquette, where hundreds of scholars from various schools came up with questions. Zhang Zhao, the Minister of Etiquette, was personally watching over it. Secretly, Dongchang was also paying attention. It was extremely strict and difficult to handle... But, this examination paper always requires someone to prepare it.
of."
"Of course, it's the second test of the imperial examination, and the quota is not a matter of 500 taels!"
Having said this, Gao Fang raised his palms and shook them, confidently saying:
"Let's increase it ten times, and each quota will be 5,000 taels of silver! There are 800 people in the imperial examination. Even if there are only 100 people, we can still get 500,000 taels of silver!"
As soon as these words came out, the six people present all breathed heavily.
What is the concept of five hundred thousand taels of silver? Yun and Xia are the two most powerful countries in the world. After paying taxes and spending for a year, what is left is only one or two hundred taels of silver at most.
Gao Fang looked at the expressions of everyone with satisfaction and continued:
"The imperial examination is set by His Majesty and held in the palace. It is not easy to handle. This year we will let it go. Anyway, the imperial examination only happens once a year. If we work harder in the future, we can also move the quota for Jinshi next year!
At that time, I will sell a Jinshi for 10,000 taels, and I will start with 50,000 taels for the first grade!"
The more Gao Fang talked, the more excited he became, looking excited to strive to become bigger and stronger and create brilliance.
When the six people in the study heard this, they no longer hesitated and said immediately:
"Okay! From now on, I will honor Sir Gao!"
"I feel relieved that Mr. Gao is here!"
Gao Fang looked at the six adults whose official positions were much higher than his own. They were humble in front of him. A trace of pride flashed in his eyes. He raised his head and laughed:
